Update: I was unfortunately not aware of Shamus Young's severe criticism of Fallout 3 available here to link in the original piece and I regret that. It dovetails rather nicely with what I've written and it's much better executed than my piece. I strongly recommend anyone...

Most video games based of shows or movies are anything but good. When I went to play Batman: Arkham Asylum I was quite skeptical, but I tried it because I heard good things about it. Is Batman: Arkham Asylum another mediocre hollywood money making scheme or is it a great game?

Joker has escaped along with other captured criminals from the Arkham Asylum, and Batman needs to fight through the hordes of escaped criminals to save Gotham city and some hostages that Joker and his gang have captured. Even if you aren't familiar with the Batman series (like myself) it is easy to learn about the characters. The story is dynamic and epic as you learn more and more about the plot going on in the Arkham Asylum. Each character has lots of dialogue and there is a lot of attention to detail in the story.

The gameplay is about investigation, beating up any crook coming your way, using gadgets and navigating all of Arkham Asylum. When fighting the masses of escaped criminals you will see a slew of cool manoveurs that Batman pulls off. I felt the controls were very natural especially with how Batman moves in the game of rolling or jumping to attack an enemy who might be a bit far away. There are also combos you can build up to do a few special moves. I had no problem figuring out the controls after a few minutes of gameplay but I felt as sometimes the game could be frusteratingly hard when you're faced with massive amount of enemies to fight and your hands (or eyes) just can't keep up with the punches and counter moves. It also doesn't help when Batman tends to roll around a lot and do very acrobatic moves that can distract from being able to know what exactly is going on. It isn't a big problem, but for people who are not good with fast paced video games this can be a challenging game for him or her. But this game isn't just about fighting through waves of enemies, there are many puzzles to figure out, gadgets to use, stealth areas to clear and unique moments especially when dealing with some of the "super criminals" (Joker, Harvey, and the rest of the big time enemies). One thing I thought about Batman: Arkham Asylum was that it felt like a mesh of Metroid titles, a beat'em up game and a stealth game taking place in the dark world of Gotham city. I'm not saying the game isn't unique, but rather that if you like Metroid games or beat-em ups then you are most likely going to like Batman: Arkham Asylum. Arkham Asylum is also covered with secrets to find that you will have to backtrack for when you get the gadget needed. There is also a lot of puzzle solving in order to get to the next area so it isn't a brainless video game.

Presentation-wise Batman: Arkham Asylum looks and sounds great. There are great voice actors who each really properly fit with their characters. The music can really match the atmoshpere and Arkham Asylum is a huge area that you get to explore with varying pretty environments. The cut scenes look fantastic and like mentioned before, Batman has some really cool moves to show. When you get a critical hit it will also show a slow-mo of your opponenent getting knocked out although sometimes it can disrupt the flow of your battles at times.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is probably one of the best games I've played this last while. I recommend buying it regardless if you are a fan of Batman or not. With its epic gameplay and story, you are sure to enjoy this title.